Foreign material exclusion is important, if not critical, in many fields, especially in the energy field. The goal of foreign material exclusion is to minimize or prevent any material, e.g., debris, which is not designed to be present in a system or device from adversely affecting the system or device, especially during repair or maintenance.
In the energy field, loss or shutdown of a power plant or refinery due to maintenance or breakage can cost millions of dollars per day. Various systems and devices, such as turbines, have a large number of crevices and openings. During maintenance or assembly, small parts, screws, bolts or other foreign objects can be left in the crevices and openings. If not retrieved or noticed, the objects have the potential to cause damage to the system or device. Accordingly, maintaining an inventory of tools and foreign materials is very important.
Various methods and constructions have been developed to provide for foreign material exclusion in industry, including, but not limited to, foreign material exclusion devices, caps, plugs, tapes, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,014 relates to a device which can be utilized to temporarily seal substantially any opening on a turbine which is being assembled or repaired. The foreign material exclusion device reportedly advantageously maintains fail-safe integrity of desired portions of a turbine. Protection of the sensitive areas of a turbine prevents possible hazardous malfunctions or explosions of a turbine. The foreign material exclusion device is substantially elastic or resilient and can be compressed to fit into a desired opening and can be re-expanded to provide a snug fit about an opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,356 relates to a device which can be utilized to temporarily seal substantially any opening on a turbine which is being assembled or repaired. The foreign material exclusion device includes a main body, preferably formed from a foamed polymer or rubber. The foreign material exclusion device is substantially elastic or resilient and can be compressed to fit into a desired opening and can be re-expanded to provide a snug fit about an opening. An extraction member is connected to the main body and is preferably utilized to remove the device from a portion of a cavity of a turbine.
In an effort to maintain inventory of foreign material exclusion devices, various solutions have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,698 relates to a foreign material exclusion device which is adapted to be utilized in tubes, pipes, or the like to prevent entry of debris into a potentially sensitive area of an assembly, such as a turbine assembly utilized in a power plant. In one embodiment, the device is adapted to be connected to a non-moving portion of a rotary milling tool, such as the collet, before a milling operation to prevent milling debris from entering a sensitive portion of a tube or pipe. In a further embodiment, each device of the invention includes a unique identifier or identification element, such as a machine readable bar code or RFID (radio frequency identification) tag, to insure all devices utilized for a particular job are accounted for.
Although various foreign material exclusion devices, in some cases, can be identified remotely, problems still exist as various conditions in some areas of the systems, devices or constructions cannot be easily ascertained. In view of the above, it would be desirable to enhance foreign material exclusion efforts and provide operators with additional tools to aid in their efforts.